SJSMR Annual Model Train Show

The SJSMR annual train show was normally held the first Saturday of March Break each year at a school in the uptown of Saint John but problems with the weather and locations dictated we needed to move date and location. Hence, the new show date of November (8th this year) and the location of the Lion's Club in Quispamsis.

I didn't have my camera at the show but I hope to get some pictures soon. Our layout seemed to work out well and, as usual, the kids appreciated seeing the trains at their own eye level. There were only a few occasions of tiny hands reaching out but we expect it so it's not a big deal. :)

One new thing we tried was linking Lawrence's Digitrax Zephyr to mine using Loconet. This actually works! We were able to "slave" one of the Zephyrs to the other and run two trains at once. This was fun for everyone because we could run two trains at once and we also had one short and one long passing siding, both close to one of the loops. The kids especially enjoyed the prospect of trains crashing. (Obviously, we could have been running more than one train all along but we haven't spent the money on additional hand-held controllers, which can cost as much as the Zephyrs themselves did! I'm determined to find a used one somewhere, even if it's just the most basic model.)

Another new thing we had were skirts! Lawrence's wife, Laurie, graciously sewed hems on a huge number of squares of black cloth which worked perfectly to dress up our show layout. It was really nice to look like we really knew what we were doing. :)


Click Here For PDF Version Of The Layout

Micromodule Superelevation

I tried a little superelevation on a corner module and took a short clip to see how it looks. It turned out not too bad and makes for a more dramatic view of the train coming around the corner, even if the curve is very sharp and not terribly prototypical. Such is the sacrifice for very portable modules.